The present invention relates to a multi-functional energy conditioner that possesses a commonly shared centrally located conductive electrode of the structure that can simultaneously interact with energized and paired differential electrodes as said differential electrodes operate with respect to each other in a oppositely phased or charged manner.
The majority of electronic equipment produced presently includes miniaturized active components and circuitry to perform high-speed functions and utilize high speed electrical interconnections to propagate power and data between critical components. These components can be very susceptible to stray electrical energy created by electromagnetic interference or voltage transients occurring on electrical circuitry servicing or utilizing these systems. Voltage transients can severely damage or destroy such micro-electronic components or contacts thereby rendering the electronic equipment inoperative, often requiring extensive repair and/or replacement at a great cost.
Electrical interference in the form of EMI, RFI and capacitive and inductive parasitics can be created or induced into electrical circuitry and components from such sources as radio broadcast antennas or other electromagnetic wave generators. EMI can also be generated from the electrical circuit, which makes shielding from EMI desirable. Differential and common mode currents are typically generated in cables and on circuit board tracks. In many cases, fields radiate from these conductors which act as antennas. Controlling these conducted/radiated emissions is necessary to prevent interference with other circuitry that is sensitive to the unwanted noise. Other sources of interference are also generated from equipment as it operates, coupling energy to the electrical circuitry, which may generate significant interference. This interference must be eliminated to meet international emission and/or susceptibility requirements.
Transient voltages can be induced by lightning on electrical lines producing extremely large potentials in a very short time. In a similar manner, electromagnetic pulses (EMP) can generate large voltage spikes with fast rise time pulses over a broad frequency range that are detrimental to most electronic devices. Other sources of large voltage transients as well as ground loop interference caused by varying ground potentials can disrupt an electrical system. Existing protection devices are unable to provide adequate protection in a single integrated package. Varieties of filter and surge suppression circuit configurations have been designed as is evident from the prior art. A detailed description of the various inventions in the prior art is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,142,430, herein incorporated by reference.
The ""430 patent itself is directed to power line filter and surge protection circuit components and the circuits in which they are used to form a protective device for electrical equipment. These circuit components comprise wafers or disks of material having desired electrical properties such as varistor or capacitor characteristics. The disks are provided with electrode patterns and insulating bands on the surfaces thereof, which coact with apertures, formed therein, so as to electrically connect the components to electrical conductors of a system in a simple and effective manner. The electrode pattern coact with one another to form common electrodes with the material interposed between. The ""430 patent was primarily directed toward filtering paired lines. Electrical systems have undergone short product life cycles over the last decade. A system built just two years ago can be considered obsolete to a third or fourth generation variation of the same application. Accordingly, componentry and circuitry built into these the systems need to evolve just as quickly.
The performance of a computer or other electronic systems has typically been constrained by the speed of its slowest active elements. Until recently, those elements were the microprocessor and the memory components that controlled the overall system""s specific functions and calculations. However, with the advent of new generations of microprocessors, memory components and their data, there is intense pressure to provide the user increased processing power and speed at a decreasing unit cost. As a result, the engineering challenge of conditioning the energy delivered to electrical devices has become both financially and technologically difficult. Since 1980, the typical operating frequency of the mainstream microprocessors has increased approximately 240 times, from 5 MHz (million cycles per second) to approximately to 1200 MHz+ by the end of the year 2000. Processor speed is now matched by the development and deployment of ultra-fast RAM architectures. These breakthroughs have allowed boosting of overall system speeds past the 1 GHz mark. During this same period, passive componentry technologies have failed to keep up and have produced only incremental changes in composition and performance. Advances in passive component design changes have focused on component size reduction, slight modifications of discrete component electrode layering, new dielectric discoveries, and modifications of manufacturing production techniques that decrease component production cycle times.
In the past, passive component engineers have solved design problems by increasing the number of components in the electrical circuit. These solutions generally involved adding inductors and resistors that are used with capacitors to filter and decouple.
Not to be overlooked, however, is the existence of a major limitation in the line conditioning ability of a single passive component and for many passive component networks. This limitation presents an obstacle for technological progression and growth in the computer industry and remains as one of the last remaining challenges of the +GHz speed system. This constraint to high-speed system performance is centered upon the limitations created by the supporting passive componentry that delivers and conditions energy and data signals to the processors, memory technologies, and those systems located outside of a particular electronic system.
The increased speed of microprocessors and memory combinations has resulted in another problem as evidenced by recent system failures that have occurred with new product deployments of high-speed processors and new memory combinations by major OEMs. The current passive component technology is the root cause of many of these failures and delays. The reasons are that the operating frequency of a single passive component generally has a physical line conditioning limitation of between 5 and 250 MHz. Higher frequencies for the most part require combinations of passive elements such as discrete L-C-R, L-C, R-C networks to shape or control energy delivered to the system load. At frequencies above 200 MhZ, prior art, discrete L-C-R, L-C, R-C networks begin to take on characteristics of transmission lines and even microwave-like features rather than providing lump capacitance, resistance or inductance that such a network was designed for. This performance disparity between the higher operating frequency of microprocessors, clocks, power delivery bus lines and memory systems and that of the supporting passive elements has resulted in system failures.
Additionally, at these higher frequencies, energy pathways are normally grouped or paired as an electrically complementary element or elements that electrically and magnetically must work together in harmony and balance. An obstacle to this balance is the fact that two discrete capacitors manufactured in the same production batch can easily posses a variability in capacitance, ranging anywhere from 15%-25%. While it is possible to obtain individual variations of capacitance between discrete units of less than 10%, a substantial premium must be paid to recover the costs for testing, hand sorting manufactured lots, as well as the additional costs for the more specialized dielectrics and manufacturing techniques that are needed to produce these devices with reduced individual variance differences required for differential signaling. Therefore, in light of the foregoing deficiencies in the prior art, the applicant""s invention is herein presented.
Based upon the foregoing, there has been found a need to provide a multi-functioning electronic component which can operate across a broad frequency range as compared to a single, prior art component or a multiple passive network. Ideally, this component would perform effectively past 1 GhZ while simultaneously providing energy decoupling for active componentry and maintaining a constant apparent voltage potential for portions of active circuitry. This new component would also minimize or suppress unwanted electromagnetic emissions resulting from differential and common mode currents flowing within electronic circuits. A multi-functioning electronic component in a multi-layered embodiment and in a dielectric independent passive architecture can, when attached into circuitry and energized, be able to provide simultaneous line conditioning functions such as, but not limited to, the forgoing needs. These needs include source to load and/or load to source decoupling, as well as, differential and common mode filtering, parasitic containment, and surge protection in one integrated package when utilizing an external conductive area or pathway. The invention can be utilized for protecting electronic circuitry and active electronic components from electromagnetic field interference (EMI), over voltages, and preventing debilitating electromagnetic emissions attributed to the circuitry and from the invention itself. Furthermore, the present invention minimizes or prevents detrimental parasitics from coupling back on to a host circuit from internally enveloped differential conductive elements located with the invention as it operates in an energized circuit. More specifically, this invention teaches that with proper placement techniques and attachment into circuitry, the system can utilize the energized physical architecture to suppresses unwanted electromagnetic emissions, both those received from other sources, and those created internally within the invention and it""s electronic circuitry that could potentially result in differential and common mode currents that would be contributed as parasitics back into the host circuitry.
In addition, due to the multi-functional energy conditioner""s physically integrated, shield-containment conductive electrode architecture, the ability to use an independent electrode material and/or an independent dielectric material composition when manufactured will not limit the invention to a specific form-shape, size for the multitude of possible embodiments of the invention that can be created and of which only a few will be described, herein.
Due to the highly competitive nature of today""s electronic industry, such a multi-functional energy conditioner/surge protector must be inexpensive, miniaturized, low in cost, highly integrated for incorporation into a plurality of electronic products. It would be desirable if it could operate free of any additional discrete passive components to achieve the desired filtering and/or line conditioning that prior art components are unable to provide.
It is therefore a main object of the invention to provide an easily manufactured, adaptable, multi-functional electronic component that prevents or suppresses electromagnetic emissions caused by differential and common mode currents that are generated among paired energy pathways.
It is another object of the invention to provide a protective circuit arrangement that may be mass produced and adaptable to include one or more protective circuits in one component package to provide protection against voltage transients, over voltages, parasitic sand electromagnetic interference.
It is another object of the invention to provide a discrete, multi-functioning electronic component, that when attached to an external conductive pathway or surface could operate effectively across a broad frequency range and could simultaneously provide energy decoupling for active circuit componentry while maintaining a constant apparent voltage potential for portions of circuitry.
Another object of the invention is to provide a blocking circuit or circuits utilizing an inherent ground which is combined with an external conductive surface or ground area that provides an additional energy pathway from the paired differential conductors for attenuating EMI and over voltages without having to couple the hybrid electronic component to a final earth ground.
Another object of the invention is to provide a single device that eliminates the need to use specialized dielectrics commonly used to obtain a minimized degree of variation of capacitance between internal capacitor plates.
These and other objects and advantages of the invention are accomplished through the use of a plurality of common conductive plates that are joined and partially surrounding corresponding differentially conductive electrode plates that are separated by a material that exhibits any one or a combination of a number of predetermined electrical properties.
Other objects and advantages of the invention are accomplished by coupling pairs of conductors into an area or space partially enveloped by a plurality of joined common conductive plates and by selectively coupling external conductors or pathways to differential electrode plates.
It is another object of the invention to provide line-to-line and line-to-ground capacitive or inductive coupling between internal plates and/or conductive electrodes that create a state of effective differential and common mode electromagnetic interference filtering and/or surge protection. Additionally, a circuit arrangement utilizing the invention will comprise of at least one line conditioning circuit component constructed as a plate. Electrode patterns are provided on one surface of the plate and the electrode surfaces are then electrically coupled to electrical conductors of the circuit. The electrode patterns, dielectric material employed and common conductive plates produce commonality between electrodes for the electrical conductors producing a balanced (equal but opposite) circuit arrangement with an electrical component coupled line-to-line between the electrical conductors and line-to-ground from the individual electrical conductors. The particular electrical effects of the multi-functional energy conditioner are determined by the choice of material between the electrode plates and the use of ground shields which effectively house the electrode plates within one or more created Faraday like shield cages. If one specific dielectric material is chosen, the resulting multi-functional energy conditioner will be primarily a capacitive arrangement. The dielectric material in conjunction with the electrode plates and common conductive plates will combine to create a line-to-line capacitor that is approximately xc2xd the value of the capacitance of the two line-to-ground capacitors make up an attached and energized invention. If a metal oxide varistor (MOV) material is used, then the multi-functional energy conditioner will be a capacitive multi-functional energy conditioner with over current and surge protection characteristics provided by the MOV-type material. The common conductive plates and electrode plates will once again form line-to-line and line-to-ground capacitive plates, providing differential and common mode filtering accept in the case of high transient voltage conditions. During these conditions, the MOV-type varistor material, which is essentially a nonlinear resistor used to suppress high voltage transients, will take effect to limit the voltage that may appear between the electrical conductors.
In a further embodiment, a ferrite material may be used adding additional inherent inductance to the multi-functional energy conditioner arrangement. As before, the common ground conductive and electrode plates form line-to-line and line-to-ground capacitive plates with the ferrite material adding inductance to the arrangement. Use of the ferrite material also provides transient voltage protection in that it to will become conductive at a certain voltage threshold allowing the excess transient voltage to be shunted to the common conductive plates, effectively limiting the voltage across the electrical conductors. Numerous other arrangements and configurations are also disclosed which implement and build on the above objects and advantages of the invention to demonstrate the versatility and wide spread application of multi-functional energy conditioners within the scope of the present invention.